Over the past year, the Covid-19 pandemic has fundamentally affected virtually all aspects of our daily lives, has caused enormous pain and suffering worldwide, and has arguably changed politics on the national and international level. What we are witnessing is a fundamental overhaul of life practices in the name of health, giving rise to an urgent need to study the implications of this moment in time. Amongst all of this, the politics of infectious disease governance and of global health security have emerged as a central site in the study of international relations.
Prior to the pandemic, the study of Global Health governance was often considered a niche subject in the field of IR, situated at an interdisciplinary intersection between extremely specialised fields. But many of the current range of studies, analyses and academic commentary on the implications of Covid-19 could be understood to be part of Global Health – enormously enlarging the field practically overnight.
But how can IR research in a pandemic best be done – what are the contributions IR can make, and what are its limits? This roundtable explores these questions, the range of research that is currently underway, and the issue of what it means to be an IR researcher during a crisis such as this one.
Confirmed speakers are:
Dr. Simon Rushton, University of Sheffield
Dr. Tine Hanrieder, London School of Economics
Dr. Owain Williams, University of Leeds
For any questions please get in touch ghwg.group@bisa.ac.uk
Registration will close 2 hours before the event is due to begin.